To Carve a Promise
by hunterofartemis080
Summary: 10/OC -Time Lady- The Doctor thought his friend had died like the rest of their people. He found her once, lost her and then she found him again as she walked the streets on Christmas Eve. Then another old friend begins to return from the darkness, one who knows a secret that holds her life in balance. What will Sol do to keep the secret safe? First in the Solar Chronicles. HIATUS
1. New Earth part 1

**A/N: Welcome! This is the first story in my new OC (Time Lady) series for Doctor Who. This one will, eventually, be Doctor/OC, but I have another Doctor Who fanfiction that is an OC sister of the Doctor. This story will mostly follow the point of view of the OC, but it will feature the Doctor's POV a bit.**

**This story will, hopefully, be posted each Friday, and will continue until the show ends. Each episode will be broken into about 2 parts.**

**~|N|~ is a scene break.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who...or we'd know more about Gallifrey and it's history.**

**~|N|~**

**New Earth part 1**

Ward 26 was a quiet place, with the only disturbances being quiet beeping, whispers and the occasional calming announcement on the loudspeaker. Ships from the city of New New York shot past the ceiling high windows which shed light on the nearly completely white below. The Doctor, newly regenerated, stood with Sister Jatt, who had offered to escort him to the patient he desired to visit. The only problem was he didn't know which patient; he and Rose had been called by an anonymous message on his physic paper.

"Nice place," he commented cheerfully as he looked around. "No shop downstairs. I'd have a shop. Not a big one. Just a shop, so people can shop."

Sister Jatt removed her veil, revealing her cat like face, similar to the rest of the nurses. "The hospital is a place of healing." She turned to look at the Doctor.

"A shop does some people the world of good," he looked down at her. "Not me. Other people." They began to walk, with the Doctor looking around at the patients for any face he recognized.

Not the man with the red skin, suspended freely in the air.

"The Sisters of Plentitude take a lifelong vow to help, and to mend." As Sister Jatt walked slightly in front of him, they passed an open cubicle where a man groaned. He was dressed in rather lavish golden and black robes, and was very clearly well off. The only problem was that his skin was very clearly turning to stone.

A stern woman, her entire being prim and pressed, rushed from the man's side when she noticed the Doctor had stopped and was staring. "Excuse me!" She moved to stand in front of the Doctor. "Members of the public may only gaze upon the Duke of Manhattan with written permission from the Senate of New New York."

"That's Petrifold Regression, right?" The Doctor nodded at the man, making the woman breath in deeply as though she was about to being scolding him again. With all her talk of rules and regulation, the Doctor couldn't stop himself from thinking of someone, just like he always did when he encountered someone who spoke like the woman before him. He cringed slightly. No. He couldn't think of her. Not now. She was gone. Just like everyone else now. He was alone.

"I'm dying, sir." The man in the robes spoke slowly. It was clearly difficult for him to move in the slightest. The Duke of Manhattan sighed. "A lifetime of charity and abstinence, and it ends like this."

"Any statements made by the Duke of Manhattan may not be made public without official clearance."

"Frau Clovis!" The Duke of Manhattan reached for the woman, who was apparently named Frau Clovis. She rushed to take his hand. Every movement the Duke made sounded like stone grinding, which made sense given the illness he was dying from. "I'm so weak."

"Sister Jatt," Frau Clovis snapped. "A little privacy, please." The Doctor and Sister Jatt began to move again, with the Doctor giving the Duke one last sad look. He didn't recognize the man, though that didn't mean he couldn't feel bad for the pain the man would be forced to endure as he died.

"He'll be up and about in no time."

"I doubt it. Petrifold Regression?" The Doctor and Sister Jatt stopped in the middle of the floor, the Doctor reaching up to scratch his head. "He's turning to stone. There won't be a cure for…oh…a thousand years? He might be up and about, but only as a statue."

"Have faith in the Sisterhood. But is there no one here you recognize?" Sister Jatt gestured to the air. As though being pulled by an unseen force, the Doctor looked over her right shoulder. "It's rather unusual to visit without knowing the patient."

"No," the Doctor nodded, "I think I've found him." The Face of Boe was by the windows, though the line of other patients had originally blocked him from view. A nurse stood next to him, no doubt tending him and his smoke. But it wasn't just the Face of Boe that had made the Doctor pause, though that would have been enough normally. It was also the blonde woman sitting in front of him, with one hand resting on the glass while her head tilted in consideration. She sat in silence, but even from behind the Doctor knew the gears in her mind were churning.

No. It couldn't be her.

The Doctor hurried over to both the Face of Boe and the woman. She still hadn't turned around to look at him, though the small jump she had given when Sister Jatt spoke made it clear she knew they were there. "Novice Hame, if I can leave this gentleman in your care?"

"Oh," the Doctor turned one last time to Sister Jatt, "I think my friend got lost. Rose Tyler. Could you ask at reception?"

"Certainly, sir." With a nod to the novice and the woman, whom she had escorted to the Face of Boe a few minutes previously, Sister Jatt left.

And then the Doctor turned to the Face of Boe and the woman. "I'm afraid the Face of Boe's asleep," Novice Hame explained. "That's all he tends to do these days. Are you a friend, or-"

"We met just the once on Platform One," the Doctor said regretfully. "What's wrong with him?"

"I'm so sorry. I thought you knew." Novice Hame turned to look at the Face of Boe at the same time the blonde woman stood, turning to look at the Doctor as she did so.

"The Face of Boe is dying," the blonde woman explained while she let the hand drift from the glass. There were tears in her blue eyes as they held the Doctor's brown ones for a moment before she looked away once again. Despite the fact the glance had only lasted a few seconds, he had seen her eyes spark with recognition.

"Of what?" The Doctor addressed the blonde woman now, even though she wasn't looking at him. He knew her and she knew him. The connection he hadn't felt ever since Gallifrey had burned returned, quietly, the moment he laid eyes on her. They always recognized another of their kind.

"Old age." The woman looked back at him. She gave him a small nod, as though silently reassuring him she knew who he was.

"The one thing we can't cure. He's thousands of years old. Some people say millions, although that's impossible."

"Oh, I don't know. I like impossible." The Doctor crouched in front of the Face of Boe as the woman beside him did the same. "I'm here. I look a bit different, but it's me, it's the Doctor." He placed a hand on the glass in much the same fashion the woman had previously been doing, though now the woman placed her hand on his shoulder. They comforted each other, silently, as the Face of Boe breathed deeply.

The woman squeezed his shoulder in comfort. "I haven't seen you in a long time Doctor," she whispered. The nurse returned to her work to allow the two visitors to discuss as they wished in private. "I have to admit, I've missed you."

"I've missed you too Sol." The Doctor turned to give her a small smile. "It's been too long." Then they both looked at the sleeping Face of Boe in sadness.

~|N|~

After a few minutes of sitting there, the Doctor forced Sol to stand and walk around. Not only did he know she needed it, but he also wanted a chance to speak to her privately. They made their way to a small cart of water against one of the walls.

"I haven't seen you in centuries," Sol commented. "Which face is this for you?" She spoke as if they were just speaking of the weather.

The Doctor grabbed a cone of water. "My tenth. You?"

She gave him a sad smile. "Ninth. Always one step ahead of me, you are." So he had missed six versions of her; the last time he had seen her she had only been on her second regeneration. Sol nodded to his brown suit, blue shirt and tie. "I like the outfit," she teased lightly.

He nodded to hers with the same teasing quality in his expression. "Same to you," he laughed. Sol was dressed in a 21st century Earth style like himself. She wore a strapless pale pink top and a light blue lace shrug over it. Her pale jeans were tucking into mid-calf black boots. It was out of place in this room of nurses and dying patients, but it fit her, with her new waved blonde hair and light blue eyes. The Doctor was fairly certain he had no memory of her that didn't involve her wearing a touch of pink. It had always been her favorite color, throughout all of the two regenerations he had seen, and apparently all the rest if she still wore it.

They started walking, a few steps apart from each other, back to the Face of Boe, the Doctor carrying a cup of water for Novice Hame.

The Doctor handed it to the nurse, smiling. "That's very kind," Novice Hame smiled back at him as she took it. "There's no need."

The Doctor moved to look out the window as Sol returned to the Face of Boe, though now she remained standing. "You're the one working," he commented.

"There's not much to do, just maintain his smoke," Novice Hame nodded to the Face of Boe. "And I suppose I'm company. I can hear him singing, sometimes, in my mind. Such ancient songs."

"Are we the only visitors?" He asked, coming to stand at Sol's side once again. She was five inches shorter than him, and they couldn't have looked more different, but they held themselves in nearly the same manner; a combination of confidence and sadness.

"The rest of Boe-kind became extinct long ago. He's the only one left. Legend says that the Face of Boe has watched the universe grow old." The Doctor gave a small laugh at that. "There's all sorts of superstitions around him. One story says that just before his death, the Face of Boe will impart his great secret, that he will speak those words only to two like himself.

Sol furrowed her brow. "What does that mean?"

"It's just a story," Novice Hame laughed.

"Tell us the rest."

"It's said he'll talk to wanderers. To the man and woman without homes. The lonely God and his nighttime sun." The Doctor and Sol turned slowly to look at the Face of Boe, who still slept.

Both of them could guess who the two people were that the story spoke of.

A few seconds later, Sol turned to the Doctor. "Didn't you ask Sister Jatt about someone named Rose? Where is she?"

The Doctor nodded, turning away from the Face of Boe and scanning the room for his companion. "Good point." He turned to look at Sol. "Do you know where a phone is?"

She laughed, but took his hand and pulled him through the room to where the phone booths were. She had explored when she had first arrived before Sister Jatt had found her.

As the Doctor called the Rose girl's cell phone, leaning his arm against the phone, Sol looked around the room at the other patients as she leaned against the phone booth.

"Rose, where are you?" Sol wasn't able to hear Rose's response. It was rather annoying to only hear one side of a conversation. "Where've you been? How long does it take to get to Ward 26?" A pause as Rose spoke. "You'll never guess. I'm with the Face of Boe. Remember him?" The Doctor had made the split second decision to not mention finding Sol. He would wait to tell Rose in person; it was that type of joyous news. As Rose spoke once again, Sol pulled on the Doctor's sleeve to get his attention as she pointed to where the Duke of Manhattan lay. The man was laughing and moving about, something both knew was not something someone with Petrifold Regression did. "I'd better go. See you in a minute." He hung up and Sol led the way to the Duke, who was laughing.

The stern woman was still there; though that was the only similarity to the previous time the Doctor had seen the Duke. The Duke's skin had returned to its normal hue, he was holding a glass of champagne and he looked so happy and the epitome of health. The Doctor smiled as he pulled at an ear, though Sol looked more hesitant. She had had a quick conversation with Frau Clovis before, but she'd been more respectful and careful then the Doctor had.

"Didn't think I was going to make it." The Duke, spotting the Doctor and Sol, pointed using his free hand. "It's that man again! He's my good luck charm. Come in. Don't be shy." The Doctor took a few steps forward and Sol moved to stand at his side, though she didn't go as close as he had.

"Any friendship expressed by the Duke of Manhattan does not constitute a form of legal contract." Sol nodded, understanding.

"Winch me up." Frau Clovis pressed a button on a remote, making the bed the Duke laid on tilt upwards. "Up! Look at me. No sign of infection."

A waiter walked to the Time Lords side. "Champagne, sir? Madame?"

"No, thank you." Sol flashed the man a quick smile.

"Um, you had Petrifold Regression, right?"

"That being the operative word." Frau Clovis gave an amused small laugh. "Past tense. Completely cured." The Duke lifted his arms as he laughed.

"But that's impossible."

A new Sister arrived, making the Doctor and Sol spin around as she spoke. "Primitive species would accuse us of magic, but it's merely the tender application of science."

"How on Earth did you cure him?"

"How on New Earth, you might say," the Sister laughed slightly as she spoke.

"What's in that solution?" Sol nodded to the blue and orange drip bags in question.

"A simple remedy."

"Then simply tell us what it is," Sol countered, not letting the Sister get another word in.

"I'm sorry. Patient confidentiality. I don't believe we've met. My name is Matron Casp."

Sol forced a smile, tucking her arms around herself. "Sol."

"I'm the Doctor." He smiled. He wished he could know what Sol was thinking, for he could tell the gears in her mind were churning once again in much the same manner his were.

"I think you'll find that we're the doctors here."

Sister Jatt arrived. "Matron Casp, you're needed in Intensive Care."

"If you would excuse me." The Doctor gave a nod and the two Sisters walked away. The two Time Lords watched them leave with solemn expressions.

"I don't like Matron Casp very much, do you?" Sol turned to look at the Doctor, switching her arms so that they were crossed defiantly instead of wrapped around her.

"Something is wrong here," the Doctor agreed. He snapped his glasses on, something that couldn't help but make Sol laugh, before they began to examine the patients together, looking at the multiple drip bags filled with multicolored liquid as they did so.

~|N|~

The Doctor turned his head slightly as they looked at a pair of pink and aqua drip bags, his eyes landing on his companion as she entered the room, smoothing down her hair. He rushed to her, making Sol turn to watch in confusion as she still held the pink drip bag in one hand, having been interrupted in the middle of looking.

"There you are," he took Rose's arm to lead her over. "Come and look at this patient." Next he gestured at Sol, who gave Rose a small wave. "This is Sol, by the way." Then he began to whisper as they looked at the floating man with red skin. "Marconi's Disease." He pulled his specks off. "Should take years to recover. Two days. I've never seen anything like it."

"They've invented a cell washing cascade," Sol offered.

"It's amazing. Their medical science is way advanced. And this one." Sol led the way to a man with skin as white as his hospital gown, being feed red and yellow liquid. "Pallidome Pancrosis. Kills you in ten minutes, and he's fine." The Doctor gave a wave and a laugh before turning Rose away, Sol moving to stand at his side. "We need to find a terminal. I've got to see how they do this." The trio left the Ward. "Because if they've got the best medicine in the world, then why is it such a secret?"

"I can't Adam and Eve it."

"What's…what's…what's with the voice?" The Doctor asked Rose as she turned to look at him.

"Oh, I don't know. Just larking about. New Earth, new me." Rose adjusted herself so that her chest, which was already quite exposed, was thrust forward a bit more.

"Well, I can talk. New New Doctor," he smiled with his hands in his pockets.

"Mmm, aren't you just." With a ferocity that shocked both the Doctor and Sol, Rose grabbed the Doctor and kissed him, long and hard. Despite herself, Sol felt her face immediately burn as she looked away, switching to clutching herself as she fingered a small black bracelet the Doctor had, thankfully, not noticed.

When the two broke apart, Rose was breathing hard as she pointed. "Terminal's this way. Phew." She rubbed her neck while she walked away.

The Doctor, however, turned to look at Sol. "That-that-that wasn't normal." He gestured to Rose. "She-she doesn't normally do that." He didn't know why he felt the need to explain that to Sol. But he felt as though he had to. He had just found her, one of his best friends, again after centuries of being apart and he had just been kissed right in front of her with no explanation.

Sol, however, forced a small smile. "Well," she nodded, "something is very wrong here then." Then she turned and strode after Rose, the Doctor watching her leave in confusion. She didn't look bothered, except for the blush, but the Doctor knew her too well. Even after all these years, he knew when she was hiding something.

Rose stood waiting by a computer terminal that was inserted into the wall by the lift. The Doctor hurried to use it, with Sol standing at his side. He couldn't help but notice she stood farther away than before.

"Nope, nothing odd. Surgery, post-op, nano-dentistry. No sign of a shop. They should have a shop," he complained.

"Shops are nice. I like shops," Sol whispered. Rose didn't hear her, but the Doctor did. He flashed her a smile.

Rose hurried to stand on the Doctor's other side, effectively blocking Sol off from him. Both Time Lords tried not to notice. "No, it's missing something else. When I was downstairs, those Nurse Cat Nuns were talking about Intensive Care. Where is it?" Rose scanned the screen with much more intensity then she normally did.

The Doctor glanced at Rose carefully before looking at Sol, then back at the screen. "You're right. Well done."

"Why would they hide a whole department?" The Doctor reached into his coat pocket and extracted his sonic. "It's got to be there somewhere. Search the sub-frame."

"What if the sub-frame's locked?" Sol asked carefully, making Rose look at her with exasperation.

"Try the installation protocol."

"Yes, of course. So sorry." Sol flashed a smile as she looked back to the screen.

"Hold on." The Doctor used the sonic on the interface, making the entire wall slide down, forcing the trio to back away, to reveal a corridor which looked very out of place among the white of the rest of the room. Rose, after taking a breath, walked inside. "Intensive Care."

"Certainly looks intensive," Sol commented as she and the Doctor followed Rose, the Doctor flipping the sonic slightly as she spoke.

Though neither of them noticed, the elevator slide open behind them to reveal Novice Hame, who walked forward to look down the corridor.

~|N|~

The corridor quickly deteriorated into something that looked very strange after the pristineness of the hospital. Rose continued to lead the two Time Lords as they made their way down a metal staircase to the large open area below. The walls around them were lined with cells that glowed green, tinting the entire room with the color. They paused at the railing, looking out upon the cells that stretched up and down, likely numbering in the thousands. Maybe millions.

The Doctor opened a cell at random using his sonic, revealing a man who was indescribably sick. Sol covered her mouth as she gasped with tears she couldn't help beginning to form. The man was human, that was obvious, but his skin was covered in welts and boils and his expression looked so lost, so alone. Without him saying a word Sol knew he had never seen the light; she recognized the look in his pleading eyes.

"That's disgusting," Rose sneered slightly. "What's wrong with him?" Sol glared at Rose at her insensitive words.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor breathed. "I'm so sorry." He closed the door quietly before walking to the next cell, opening it in the same manner. This one contained a young woman in an identical state to the man previously.

"What disease is that?"

"All of them. Every single disease in the galaxy."

"They've been infected with everything," Sol whispered, her hand flying to her hidden bracelet once again, fingering it.

"What about us? Are we safe?"

"The air's sterile. Just don't touch them." The Doctor closed the door before walking to the railing again, clutching it, with Sol beside him.

"How many patients are there?"

"They're not patients," the Doctor nearly growled.

"But they're sick."

Anger radiated from the Doctor's words. Sol rested her hand on his shoulder as they stared around at all the cubicles, hearts clenching as they thought about each and every one filled with a tortured human. "They were born sick. They're meant to be sick. They exist to be sick. Lab rats. No wonder the Sisters have got a cure for everything. They've built the ultimate research laboratory. A human farm." He pushed away from the railing and walked back to a cell, Sol dropping her hand from his shoulder.

"Why don't they just die?"

"Plague carriers. The last to go."

Novice Hame's voice drew their attention as she walked down the corridor towards them. "It's for the greater cause."

"Novice Hame, when you took your vows, did you agree to this?" Sol asked, forcing her own anger to be held inside. She stepped slightly in front of the Doctor as they walked forward, letting her arms drop from being wrapped around her as she took the stance the Doctor remembered quite well.

"The Sisterhood has sworn to help."

"What," Sol tilted her head and widened her eyes, "by killing?" Her voice sounded surprisingly calm to her ears, despite the anger raging inside.

"But they're not real people. They're specially grown. They have no proper existence."

"Care to tell me the turnover?" She took another step forward. "One thousand a day? Another thousand the next? And then another thousand the next? How many thousands?" With each sentence, she stepped forward. The Doctor moved behind her, knowing he had to let her speak. He had to let Sol do this. He knew he would just have started shouting and they would have gotten nowhere. Sol had always been better at keeping calm when confronting people. All he could do was offer her silent support. "For how many years?"

"Mankind needed us. They came to this planet with so many illnesses. We couldn't cope. We did try. We tried everything. We tried using clone-meat and bio-cattle, but the results were too slow, so the Sisterhood grew its own flesh. That's all they are. Flesh."

"These people are alive," Sol interrupted, gesturing to them.

"But think of those Humans out there, healthy and happy, because of us."

Sol countered quickly. "If they live because of this, then, by the stars, life is worthless."

"But who are you to decide that?"

"I'm Sol." She crossed her arms.

"And I'm the Doctor." He stepped forward so that he was at her side.

"And if you don't like that, if you want to take it to a higher authority, then there isn't one."

"It stops with us." The Doctor's voice was harsh, making Novice Hame lean backwards slightly as he spoke.

"Just to confirm. None of the humans in the city actually know about this?" Rose leaned forward slightly as she asked it.

"We thought it best not."

"Hold on," now it was the Doctor's turn to interrupt. "I can understand the bodies. I can understand your vows. One thing I can't understand. What have you done to Rose?"

"I don't know what you mean." Sol watched Novice Hame's expression carefully.

"And I'm being very, very calm. You want to be aware of that. Very, very calm. And the only reason I'm being so very, very calm is that the brain is a delicate thing. Whatever you've done to Rose's head, I want it reversed."

"We haven't done anything."

"I'm perfectly fine."

"These people are dying, and Rose would care."

"Oh," Rose sighed, making the Doctor and Sol turn to look at her, "all right, clever clogs." Rose pulled the Doctor's tie free. "Smarty pants." She pulled him closer to her. "Lady-killer."

"What's happened to you?"

"I knew something was going on in this hospital, but I needed this body and your mind to find it out. She," Rose nodded towards Sol, "was just an added bonus."

"Who are you?"

Rose moved so that she could whisper in the Doctor's ear. "The last human."

"Cassandra?" The Doctor's eyes widened in horror.

"Wake up and smell the perfume." Cassandra squirted a vial of perfume up his nose, making the Doctor keel straight down, completely passed out. Sol rushed to catch him, only for Cassandra to squirt her too.

"No-" Sol managed to beg, her voice breaking, before she passed out as well, the Doctor and her falling to a limp pile on the ground.

~|N|~

The Doctor came to once again with a jolt. Immediately, he knew he was inside one of the cells, with green light filling the air around him. "Let me out!" He shouted, his mind frantically searching for traces of Sol's consciousness anywhere nearby. Now that he had seen her again she would be easier to find. He sensed her, faintly, but just that she was still alive. He couldn't tell anything else. "Let me out!"

Cassandra stepped forward so that he could see her through the green tinted glass, smirking. "Aren't you lucky there was a spare? Standing room only."

"And Sol?" The Doctor breathed. "Where have you put her?"

Cassandra gestured lazily next to the cell next to him. "She's still passed out, sadly." She sounded the opposite of sad as she sneered. "There were thankfully quite a few spares thanks to that large turnover she mentioned."

Barely, just barely, the Doctor could sense more information about Sol if he focused. She was stirring, he could tell that, but it would be a while before she woke again unless he gave her some amount of help. "You've stolen Rose's body.

"Over the years, I've thought of a thousand ways to kill you, Doctor." Cassandra rested one arm on the glass. "And now, that's exactly what I've got. One thousand diseases." The Doctor looked around worriedly. "They pump the patients with a top-up every ten minutes. You've got about," she glanced at her watch, "three minutes left. Enjoy."

"Just let Rose and Sol go, Cassandra."

"I'll let Rose go, don't worry. As soon as I've found someone younger, and less common, then I'll junk her with the waste. Now hushaby. It's show time." She stepped away to see Sister Jatt and Matron Casp approaching her. The Doctor strained to watch, devoting a small part of his mental power to coaxing Sol awake. She began to stir, slightly, but she wasn't awake yet.

"Anything we can do to help?" Sister Jatt asked cheerfully.

"Straight to the point, Whiskers…" Cassandra gave a pleased smirk. "I want money."

"The Sisterhood is a charity. We don't give money. We only accept."

"The humans across the water pay you a fortune, and that's exactly what I need. A one-off payment, that's all I want." Cassandra walked forward so that the Doctor couldn't see her anymore, but he could hear her. "Oh, and perhaps a yacht. In return for which, I shall tell the city nothing of your institutional murder. Is that a deal?"

Sister Jatt pressed a few buttons on a control as Matron Casp spoke. "I'm afraid not."

"I'd really advise you to think about this."

"Oh, there's no need." Matron Casp shrugged. "I have to decline."

"I'll tell them, and you've no way of stopping me. You're not exactly Nuns with Guns. You're not even armed."

"Who needs arms when we have claws?" Matron Casp lifted her hand and unsheathed her claws, accompanying them with a hiss.

"Well, nice try." Cassandra turned back around to Chip. "Chip? Plan B."

Chip shuffled over to a lever and pulled it, letting all the doors on that level open. The Doctor rushed out. Swiftly, he spun to the side and caught Sol as she fell forward with a small scream. Her eyes were wide with fear, and she was shaking fiercely. But she was awake. Along the corridor, all the rest of the cells released their infected humans.

"What've you done?" The Doctor shouted, supporting Sol as she clutched his arm.

"Gave the system a shot of adrenaline, just to wake them up. See you!" Cassandra and Chip began to run. Something seemed to shock inside of Sol and she pushed herself away from the Doctor, taking in the scene around her quite quickly. She was still shaking but it was less than before, though her eyes were just as wide.

The Doctor spun to look at the nurses, who the infected had started advancing on. "Don't touch them! Whatever you do, don't touch!" He grabbed Sol's hand as he ran after Cassandra, knowing she would still need the help. The Time Lady had begun stumbling as she stood.

As they ran, the locks on all the doors began to spark, forcing them to speed up as Cassandra screamed. They were forced to stop, on a catwalk above it all, as Sol nearly collapsed into a coughing fit. The Doctor scanned the room, seeing all the infected humans had been released.

"Oh…my God."

"What the hell have you done?"

"It wasn't me."

"One touch and you get every disease in the world, and I want that body safe, Cassandra." Other infected began approaching, arriving from all directions.

Sol forced herself to stand, even though she could feel her lungs burning from the stress. "We've got to go down," she managed.

"But there's thousands of them!" Cassandra screamed.

"Run!" And they did, as the infected came even closer with their outstretched hands. "Down! Down! Go down!"

They reached another section of stairs, with the Doctor and Sol looking behind them every few seconds to see the infected still following. "Keep going!" Sol shouted, despite the sharp pain. "Go down!"

**A/N: That's the first chapter done :) I picture Sol to look something like Teresa Palmer. I'll be doing the same format here that I've been doing in my other story, so I'll be giving some response to every review you leave :)**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	2. New Earth part 2

**New Earth part 2**

Finally, they reached the last set of stairs and exited into cellar hallway. The Doctor caught Sol as she nearly fell flat on her face, her eyes pressed closed against the pain, and Cassandra rushed to call a lift.

"No, the lifts have closed down. That's the quarantine. Nothing's moving."

Cassandra rushed past the two Time Lords, leading the way through the hall. "This way!" The Doctor helped Sol run, forcing her to keep up with his pace, but Chip fell too far behind. A group of infected people emerged from a door, blocking Chip from continuing.

"Someone will touch him."

"Leave him! He's just a clone thing. He's only got a half-life. Come on!" Cassandra turned and started running again.

"Mistress!" Chip called, making Sol sigh sadly. She knew they couldn't do anything to help the innocent man. There was nothing.

With a cough, Sol pulled the Doctor's arm. "We can't."

He looked between her and Chip, conflicted. "I'm sorry, I can't let her escape." Taking Sol's hand again, the Doctor pulled her after him as they started running once again.

"My Mistress!" Chip gave one last cry before Sol could no longer see him, as infected began to surround him. She forced herself to look away.

Cassandra, the Doctor and Sol ran into a cellar room, slamming the door shut behind them. Sol nearly collapsed on the ground right there, falling against the wall beside her as Cassandra rushed to open the back door, only to find more people there. With a small scream, she slammed it shut. "We're trapped! What am I going to do?"

The Doctor supported Sol as they moved to the center of the room, helping her stand. "Well, for starters, you're going to leave that body."

Sol lifted a shaking hand to a psychograft she had spotted. "That psychograft is banned on every civilized planet," she managed, her breath wheezing but still trying to sound intimidating.

"You're compressing Rose to death."

"But I've got nowhere to go." Cassandra moved to look where a sheet of her skin had once been stretched. "My original skin's dead." She spun back around to look at the Doctor and Sol, who was slowly standing on her own.

"Not my problem. You can float as atoms in the air. Now, get out. Give her back to me." The Doctor pointed with his sonic towards Cassandra.

"You asked for it." Cassandra took a deep breath before blowing a collection of pink energy to the Doctor. The newly returned Rose nearly fell to the ground as the Doctor spun away, leaving Sol shaking where she stood. Sol forced herself to remain standing and not give in to the blackness that had been approaching on the edges of her vision, glancing down frantically at her bracelet.

Rose clutched her head. "Blimey, my head." She looked around the room in worry. "Where'd she go?"

The Doctor that was no longer the Doctor stood facing a wall, his entire baring making it obvious it was no longer the Time Lord in control. "Oh my. This is…" Cassandra turned "different."

"Cassandra?"

"Goodness me, I'm a _man_. Yum. So many parts. And hardly used." She jerked her chest at the rhythm of a heartbeat. "Oh, oh, two hearts! Oh, baby, I'm beating out a samba!"

"Get out of him," Sol snapped, her voice regaining the strength it had had before.

"Oo, he's slim," Cassandra ran her hand down the Doctor's body, "and a little bit foxy," she raised her eyebrows at both human and Time Lady. "You've thought so too." She was looking more at Rose though. "I've been inside your head. You've been looking. You like it."

Sol took a breath, interrupting Cassandra smoothly. "I said, get out." Her voice was harsh, shocking Rose. The woman had just been nearly collapsing because of strain and then she had turned into someone Rose couldn't help but be terrified of, despite the words weren't addressed to her.

All of a sudden, the door burst open and the infected began to stream inside. Cassandra began to hit Rose's arm frantically in fear. "What do we do? What would he do? The Doctor, what the hell would he do?"

Sol pointed behind them. "Ladder. We've got to get up."

Cassandra shoved Rose and Sol aside, rushing for the ladder. "Out of the way, blondies!" She rushed to climb the ladder, with Sol following suit a moment later. Rose paused, looking back at the infected who pleaded for their help, before climbing as well.

~|N|~

The ladder led to a lift shaft, which the trio hurried to climb. "If you get out of the Doctor's body, he can think of something," Rose shouted from her position at the end of the line.

"Yap, yap, yap," Cassandra sneered. "God, it was tedious inside your head. Hormone city."

"We're going to die if-" Rose screamed as Matron Casp grabbed her ankle. "Get off!"

"All our good work. All that healing." Cassandra rolled her eyes from her position highest on the ladder. Sol, despite the threat, was glad of the pause. "The good name of the Sisterhood. You have destroyed everything."

"Go and play with a ball of string," Cassandra called down with a sneer.

"Everywhere, disease. This is the human world. Sickness!" An infected, which climbed below, reached up a singular diseased arm and grasped Matron Casp's ankle. She screamed as she broke into boils before falling to the bottom far below.

Rose looked back up at the Time Lady and Cassandra as the infected began to climb once again. "Move!"

When they reached the next level, the top of the ladder, the doors refused to open.

Cassandra groaned. "Now what do we do?"

"Use the sonic screwdriver," Sol snapped.

With a disgusted expression, Cassandra extracted the sonic from the Doctor's pocket. She held it loosely. "You mean this thing?"

"Yes, I mean that thing," Sol, closing her eyes for a second, forced herself to keep calm. It wouldn't do to get angry. It wouldn't help anything.

"Well, I don't know how," Cassandra exclaimed. "That Doctor's hidden away all his thoughts."

Sol sighed. She knew how to opperate the sonic, but she was too far away to use it even if Cassandra dropped it down to her. "Cassandra, come into me. Rose has had enough and the Doctor can open it once he's free." At Cassandra's disgusted expression, she glared. "Do it!" Just as before, the harshness shocked everyone. Though this time Cassandra obeyed.

"Hold on tight." The energy transferred again, this time into Sol. She gave a jolt as Cassandra entered.

"Oh, wonderful. The one who nearly fainted." Cassandra gave herself a shake before calling up to the Doctor. "Open it!" Despite her being in Sol's body, the order didn't sound the same. It didn't hold the same power.

"Not till you get out of her." The Doctor hung from the ladder with one arm, pointing the sonic threateningly at Cassandra. Rose glanced down to the infected below.

"We need the Doctor."

"I order you to leave her," the Doctor shouted in response, glaring at Cassandra. He wasn't going to lose Sol again, not after he had just found her.

So Cassandra swapped back into the Doctor. "No matter how difficult the situation, there is no need to shout."

"Cassandra, get out of him!" The harshness of Sol was back, though this time it seemed a bit weaker.

Cassandra sighed. "But I can't go into you, he simply refuses. He's so rude."

"I know and I don't care."

"Just do something," Rose called from below. Both Sol and Rose knew that there was no hope asking Cassandra to go into Rose. The Doctor would just refuse again.

"Oh, I am so going to regret this," Cassandra sighed before transferring into the infected woman highest on the ladder. "Oh, sweet Lord. I look disgusting."

The Doctor, finally, soniced open the lift doors and the trio hurried inside. "Nice to have you back," he called to Rose, giving Sol a smile.

"No, you don't." Cassandra sent her energy flying again, just making it to Rose before the Doctor had finished sonicing the lift doors closed. Sol tried to catch Cassandra as she fell, but only fell herself as her lungs suddenly heaved for air.

"That was your last warning, Cassandra!" The Doctor snapped, turning to face her.

"Inside her head. They're so alone. They keep reaching out, just to hold us. All their lives and they've never been touched." Cassandra's voice was so sad, so alone, that the Doctor knew something had changed about her. He reached a hand out and she took it, standing. Sol pushed herself standing as well as something crashed against the doors. The trio looked at it for a moment before beginning to move once again.

~|N|~

Hurrying down the small hallway, the Doctor soniced the doors at the end to reveal Ward 26 once again. They had entered near where the Face of Boe was, Novice Hame still there tending him. Frau Clovis lunged at them with a metal stand and an angry cry.

"We're safe! We're safe! We're safe! We're clean! We're clean! Look, look." The trio held up their hands.

"Show me your skin."

"Look, clean." They turned their hands so that Frau Clovis could see them completely.

"If we'd been touched, we'd be dead, wouldn't we?" Sol tried, eyeing the woman carefully. She nodded and lowered the stand, letting the trio relax as much as they could in their current state of worry.

"So how's it going up here? What's the status?" The Doctor asked, replacing the sonic in his pocket.

"There's nothing but silence from the other wards. I think we're the only ones left. And I've been trying to override the quarantine." Frau Clovis broke through them and walked to the window. "If I can trip a signal over to New New York, they can send a private executive squad." She turned as she typed a few things on the small communications device in her hand.

The Doctor shook his head. "You can't do that."

"If they forced entry, they'd break quarantine," Sol explained.

"I am not dying in here."

"We can't afford for a single particle of disease to get out. There are ten million people in that city and they'd all be at risk. Now, turn that off." Sol sounded more exasperated than ever, nearly shouting. And she sounded so tired.

"Not if it gets me out," Frau Clovis snapped.

"All right, fine. So we have to stop you lot as well." Sol looked towards the Doctor and shrugged. They had faced worse together in the past.

"Suits me," the Doctor agreed with a shrug. "Sol, Rose, Novice Hame, everyone! Excuse me, your Grace. Get me intravenous solutions for every single disease."

"Move it!" Sol ordered. Everyone began to rush to grab the multicolored drip bags and deliver them to the Doctor, who began hanging them on various places on his body using a heavy piece of silk rope. Sol, originally, had tried to gather drip bags. But then her vision had swarmed with particles of black and she resigned herself to helping him attach them all; there was no way she would be able to run anymore.

Once they were all attached, the Doctor looked down at Sol. "How's that? Will that do?"

"Perfect," she nodded, before collapsing sitting onto the hospital bed beside her. Cassandra rushed over to the Doctor, taking Sol's place as the Time Lady shuttered with wheezing breathes.

Cassandra looked him up and down. "Will it do for what?" Instead of responding, the Doctor rushed to the lift, giving Sol's shoulder a final squeeze as he walked past her. She would be alright, he knew it. She just needed rest and she deserved to have it.

Using the sonic, the Doctor opened the lift doors and leaned forward to look down. "The lifts aren't working," Cassandra exclaimed.

"Not moving. Different thing." The Doctor moved back so that he had a bit of distance between him and the open lift. "Here we go." Placing the sonic between his teeth, he began to run.

"But you're not going to-" before Cassandra could finish, the Doctor had jumped and grabbed the lift cable, dangling in the middle of the shaft. "What do you think you're doing?"

Though he still had the sonic in his mouth, the Doctor managed to speak. "I'm going down! Come on!" He attached a round piece of equipment, a winch, to the cable.

"Not in a million years," Cassandra laughed.

"I need another pair of hands and Sol needs to rest right now. What do you think? If you're so desperate to stay alive, why don't you live a little?"

Frau Clovis, who had been standing and watching, spotted a crowd of approaching infected. "Seal the door!" she called, trapping Cassandra and the Doctor with the infected humans. Sol, from her position on the bed, gave an exasperated sigh at the woman. And then she collapsed into darkness, letting her body enter the rejuvenating rest it needed.

Whimpering, Cassandra began to run with a call of "no!" She jumped and landed on the Doctor's back, clutching him around his neck. "You're completely mad. I can see why she likes you." For some reason, the Doctor had the sense Cassandra wasn't speaking of Rose.

But he shook his head. No. He couldn't think like that now. He had a job to do. "Going down!" Flicking a switch on the winch, they began to fly downwards, both screaming; Cassandra out of fear and the Doctor out of enjoyment. He pulled the break and they came to a gentle stop at the bottom of the shaft, landing on the top of a lift.

They hopped down. "Well, that's one way to lose weight."

"Now, listen. When I say so, take hold of that lever."

"There's still a quarantine down there, we can't-"

The Doctor interrupted her with a shout. "Hold that lever!" He detached two of the drip bags. "I'm cooking up a cocktail. I know a bit about medicine myself." And then he began to pour all the contents of the drip bags into the lift's disinfectant tank. "Now, that lever's going to resist." He nodded to it once all the drip bags were empty. "But keep it in position." He pulled open a hatch. "Hold onto it with everything you've got."

"What about you?

"I've got an appointment. The Doctor is in." He dropped down into the lift, Cassandra leaning down to watch as he opened the doors with his sonic screwdriver. The doors opened into the reception area and the sound made all of the infected, who had been sitting there, turn and look.

"I'm in here! Come on!" The infected began to stagger towards him.

"Don't tell them."

"Pull that lever!" All of the infected in the room began to shuffle towards the lift the Doctor stood in. "Come and get me. Come on! I'm in here! Come on!"

"Commence stage one disinfection." The voice, which had announced the quarantine and had been speaking calm reminders this entire time, spoke.

"Hurry up! Come on!" The Doctor gestured towards the infected as the contents of the tank began to spray onto him. "Come on, come on." The first of the infected humans entered with outstretched arms and got sprayed with the cocktail of medicine. "All they want to do is pass it on. Pass it on!" The Doctor jumped in joy as they left.

"Pass on what? Pass on what?"

The Doctor only jumped again. "Pass it on!" The newly healed, disinfected, and wet humans moved amongst the crowd of the infected as they spread the medicine with hisses and bursts of steam. Soon, all their skin was clear of symptoms as the Doctor looked on with a smile.

He helped Cassandra down into the lift. Just like all the healed humans, he was drenched. But he couldn't have been happier about it. "What did they pass on? Did you kill them? All of them?"

"No. That's your way of doing things." The Doctor strode into the reception. "I'm the Doctor, and I cured them." The humans looked around them in an almost childlike wonder as one woman hurried to hug the Doctor. "That's right. Hey, there we go, sweetheart. Go to him." He directed the woman kindly to go sit with another man. "Go on, that's it. That's it. It's a new sub-species, Cassandra." He took a man by the shoulders. "A brand new form of life. New humans! Look at them. Look!" He crouched down so that he could look at some who were sitting, the largest grin on his face. "Grown by cats, kept in the dark, fed by tubes, but completely, completely alive." He pointed back towards Cassandra. "You can't deny them, because you helped create them." She rolled her eyes at him. "The human race just keeps on going, keeps on changing. Life will out! Ha!"

~|N|~

The sun was setting now and the sky had gained a rosy color, the quarantine on the hospital lifted. The Doctor was still wet as he and Cassandra entered Ward 26 once again. He spotted Sol talking with a police officer, some of whom were escorting the Sisters away in handcuffs. Of course, Sol had already gotten back to helping. She looked as healthy as she had when he first saw her and she had the glow in her bright eyes back again.

"All staff will present themselves to the officers for immediate arrest." As the loudspeaker spoke, Sol bid the officer she was talking to goodbye before walking back over to the Doctor, just giving him a hug the moment she reached him. "I repeat; immediate arrest. All new life forms will be cataloged and taken into care." The Time Lords, after the Doctor gave Sol a relieved kiss on the top of her head, separated.

A thought seemed to suddenly reappear for the Doctor. "The Face of Boe!" He rushed off for the Face of Boe, pulling Sol along by her hand as she laughed. The Face of Boe looked, undeniably, healthier. The Doctor re-buttoned his jacket as he slowed to a stop. "You were supposed to be dying." The Doctor spoke with a smile, taking Sol's hand for a moment and squeezing it to comfort her.

"There are better things to do today," the Face of Boe, with slight amusement, said in their minds. "Dying can wait."

"Oh, I hate telepathy," Cassandra sighed. "Just what I need, a head full of big face."

The Doctor looked over his shoulder in annoyance. "Shh!"

"I have grown tired with the universe, Doctor and Sol, but you have taught me to look at it anew."

The two Time Lords stepped forward. "There are legends, you know," they crouched before the Face of Boe in a synchronized motion, "saying that you're millions of years old."

"There are?" The Face of Boe laughed. "That would be impossible."

"Wouldn't it just." The Doctor smiled.

"We got the impression there was something you wanted to tell us," Sol asked carefully, tilting her head.

"A great secret."

"So the legend says." Sol seemed to have mastered the skill of countering people quickly. She was almost as skilled as the Doctor.

"It can wait."

The Doctor moaned, making Sol laugh slightly at the sound. "Oh, does it have to?" he begged.

"We shall meet again, Doctor, for the third time. Sol, for the last time, and the truth shall be told. Until that day." The Face of Boe dissolved into a flash of light, showing the image of stars in a deep blue sky before beaming away completely.

The Doctor and Sol exchanged a look. "That is…enigmatic," Sol commented lightly with a smile.

The Doctor nodded in agreement, smiling as well. "That… that is… that is textbook enigmatic." With a sigh, the Doctor stood and faced Cassandra, who had been examining her nails completely uninterested. "And now for you."

"But everything's happy. Everything's fine. Can't you just leave me?" The Doctor approached Cassandra as Sol moved to stand beside him.

"You've lived long enough."

"Leave that body and end it, Cassandra," Sol ordered. "You can't steal life."

Cassandra began to cry. "I don't want to die," she whimpered.

"No one does," Sol whispered. Her voice was kinder then it had been before when she had addressed Cassandra.

"Help me."

"We can't."

"Mistress!" Chip called, making them all turn to look as he ran towards them.

"Oh, you're alive."

"I kept myself safe for you, mistress."

"A body," Cassandra considered as she eyed Chip. "And not just that, a volunteer."

"Don't you dare. He's got a life of his own." Sol moved to step in front of Cassandra, a hand raised to stop her.

"But I worship the mistress," Chip snapped. Cassandra winked at him as he turned to look at her once again. "I welcome her."

"You can't, Cassandra, you-" despite the Doctor beginning to speak, Cassandra still took a deep breath and transferred, for the final time, into Chip. Rose collapsed into the Doctor's arms. "Oh! You all right?" Rose fell off balance, but the Doctor was able to keep her standing as Sol watched Chip's body carefully. "Whoa! Okay?"

"Yeah. Hello!" Rose smiled.

"Hello." The Doctor smiled back. "Welcome back."

"Oh, sweet Lord." Cassandra lifted her arms, looking down at the drawings which covered her new body. "I'm a walking doodle."

"You can't stay in there. I'm sorry, Cassandra, but that's not fair." Sol crossed her arms as she looked at Cassandra, who appeared completely indifferent to her words.

"I can take you to the city. They can build you a skin tank and you can stand trial for what you've done."

"Well, that would be rather dramatic. Possibly my finest hour, and certainly my finest hat," she touched her blue hat, "but I'm afraid we don't have time. Poor little Chip is only a half-life, and he's been through so much. His heart is racing so. He's failing," Cassandra sounded surprised, as though she were speaking of it beginning to rain and not the state of Chip's heart. "I don't think he's going to last…" Cassandra's legs gave away and Sol rushed to support her and help her down to the ground without a thud.

"Are you all right?" Sol asked Cassandra carefully, recognizing the look in Cassandra's eyes.

"I'm fine," Cassandra clutched her chest as she realized something. "I'm dying, but that's fine." She laughed weakly.

"I can take you to the city," the Doctor tried one last time.

"No, you won't. Everything's new on this planet. There's no place for Chip and me anymore. You're right, Doctor, Sol. It's time to die," she swallowed, "and that's good."

The trio helped Cassandra stand, though Sol supported her the most. "Come on. There's one last thing I can do." They slowly led Cassandra away, her still clutching the space above her chest where her heart was.

~|N|~

The TARDIS landed in a hidden room of a party, a place where no one would happen upon it. The Doctor exited first, and then Cassandra and Sol. Cassandra had changed into a black styled robe as Sol still helped her walk. Rose was the last out.

The old Cassandra, from back when the woman was still human, stood at the center of a group that were laughing and talking as she told a story.

Cassandra turned to look at the Doctor with Sol finally stepping aside to let her walk on her own. "Thank you."

"Just go."

"Don't look back," Sol offered with a smile.

"Good luck," Rose whispered.

The trio still couldn't hear what the human Cassandra was saying, but they watched as Cassandra approached herself. "Excuse me, Lady Cassandra." They heard that, as the conversation took place closer to them.

"I'm sorry, I don't need anything right now. I'm fine, thank you." Human Cassandra turned, ready to move on to the next group of people.

"No," Cassandra interrupted herself. "I just wanted to say you look beautiful."

Human Cassandra gave a small smile, as though she hadn't heard the words spoken to her in such a long time. "Well, that's very kind, you strange little thing. Thank you very much."

"I mean it." Cassandra took another step forward. "You look so beautiful."

The two Cassandra's held each other's eyes for a long moment before human Cassandra spoke, almost about to cry. "Thank you." And then, with a sigh, Cassandra's eyes fluttered closed and Chip's body collapsed. Human Cassandra quickly cradled Chip's body in her arms as they sunk to the floor. "Oh, my Lord. Are you all right? What is it? What's wrong? Someone get some help! Call a medic or something, quickly!

"Who is he?"

"I don't know. He just came up to me. I don't even know his name. He just collapsed. I think he's dying. Someone do something! I've got you, sweetheart. It's all right. There you are. There you are, I've got you. It'll be all right. There…there…you poor little thing." Cassandra rocked Chip back and forth as she spoke to him, speaking with complete kindness.

The Doctor, slowly, helped Rose return to the TARDIS. Sol remained for one last second before following. She wrapped her arms around herself as she walked up towards the console, where the Doctor was ordering Rose to go get some rest. She needed it, due to the amount of pressure her mind had been under. Then the Doctor turned to his old friend, who looked sad as she flicked a lever.

"Are you alright?"

Sol took a breath, blinking slowly before turning and looking at the Doctor, switching her thoughtful expression to a sad smile. "I'm fine."

The Doctor crossed his arms as he leaned backwards against the side. "Now, Sol, I know that's not true."

This time her smile was genuinely amused, though still sad. "I'm offended you don't want to believe me. I'm _fine_, Doctor." She spoke forcefully, letting him know there was no hope getting her to tell him anything else.

He nodded to the console room around them, making her look around once again in thought. He watched her carefully. There was something different about how she held herself then what he remembered, with her arms clutched around her middle and tugging on the edges of her shrug to hold it closed. Though, he supposed, that was thanks to the centuries they had been apart. He had changed and it was undeniable that she would have as well. "Do you have a TARDIS then?"

"Nope." She lifted the edge of her shirt slightly to reveal a futuristic contraption, though it looked similar to Jack Harkness's Vortex Manipulator, hanging from her belt. "Built myself a Vortex Manipulator so that I wouldn't be stuck in one place. It's how I got to the hospital and started this whole mess."

The Doctor laughed. "Physic paper message too, then?"

In response, Sol pulled the paper in question from her pocket. She flicked it open to reveal the message was still displayed. "Ward 26. Please come." She laughed. "How could I resist?" But then she flicked the paper with two fingers and it sparked. "Broke right after I got the message though. The one piece of technology I could never fix." The Doctor took it from her hand, pulled his sonic out and gave it a small flash. The paper sparked again, but returned to normal. Sol gave a small cheer. "You fixed it!" She tucked it back into her pocket. "Thank you."

"Do you want to travel with me?" The Doctor spoke quickly. He didn't want to waver on his words, or sound unsure. He had begun thinking about it since the moment he saw her once again, before all the mess with Cassandra had begun. She was his friend, one of his best, and he hadn't seen her in centuries. Of course he wanted her to travel with him.

But Sol shook her head sadly, making the Doctor frown. "I can't, I'm sorry. Not right now." She frowned as well, at his crumbled expression. "I'll think about it, I will! Maybe…maybe in the future."

"But how do you know I'll ever see you again?" he asked quietly. He didn't want to lose her forever, not again, not after he had just gotten her back. He was fine with her thinking about it, proud that she wasn't jumping into situations without thinking of the consequences like he would have. But he didn't want her to leave without knowing he would see her again.

Sol considered it for a moment. "When the time is ready, we'll run into each other again." She held up a threatening finger. "But don't you dare come looking for me! I don't want you chasing me as I travel through time and space."

The Doctor laughed. "Of course." He was relieved that she, at least, believed they would see each other again. He knew, from past experience, that he wouldn't be able to convince Sol to do something she didn't want to do. So he just had to trust her. "Want me to drop you off anywhere?"

Sol smiled widely. "I did always want to see the 51st century. Never could land right, though. I always ended up in the 25th, for some reason." She gestured to the air, spinning away from the TARDIS console with a laugh. "Pick a planet in the 51st century." She flashed him another smile, this one wider than any before. "I trust your judgment."

The Doctor, still saddened his friend was leaving him once more, was happy to pilot the TARDIS with her again. The flight always went smoother with two pilots then it had went with one. When they landed, Sol gave him one last hug before walking out of the TARDIS and onto the planet he had chosen for her. She paused, a few steps away from the still open doorway, and turned. She waved and smiled before the doors closed and she was gone again.

The Doctor forced himself to fly the TARDIS again. He would see Sol again, he knew it. He had to.

**A/N: So Sol left him; she didn't want to travel with him just yet. I wonder when she'll see him again, as she seems to believe will happen. And what's happening with her that makes her tire so quickly and need to pass out when she did?**

**Notes on reviews:**

_Lil Angel 927: I'm glad to hear you're excited :) I have answered your questions in a separate conversation :)_

_NicoleR85: I'm glad you hear you're liking it :) Even though she doesn't travel with Rose right now, when she does encounter Rose again she will not take any crap, don't worry ;) Hope you liked the update :)_

_ : I'm glad to hear you've liked the story :)_

_Torozu: Thank you! That's good to hear :) My advice is to make certain you know the characters well, and that you have at least a basic plot outlined. Even with this one, which follows the episodes, I've planned out what will happen in the entire story and in individual episodes. I am enjoying him so far; he's an interesting change after Matt Smith. Excited to see where his story will go :)_


	3. Runaway Bride part 1

**The Runaway Bride part 1**

Even on Christmas Eve, the streets of London were surprisingly bustling with a combination of tourists from countries galore and citizens going about their normal life. A few bands, adorned with Santa Claus masks and brass instruments, played at nearly regular intervals along the pavement as taxi's streamed past.

The only difference to a normal day, despite the holiday, was the fact a Time Lady walked among the humans. Sol, still dressed in the outfit she had worn during the dealings with Cassandra on New Earth, walked with her arms clutched around her. Not because she was cold; all Time Lords, even her, could withstand large ranges of temperature. It was so the humans she walked past didn't give her a second glance except to pity her for the fact she didn't have any visible method of keeping warm.

After the Doctor had dropped her off on the 51st century planet, Sol had begun jumping around; simply acting as an observer as she let her thoughts wander. It may have been safer for her to remain one place and time instead of jumping randomly but Sol couldn't stand to be in the same place for too long. She had to keep moving, keep seeing new sights. Sadly, the strain of using her Vortex Manipulator and traveling through time and space without a proper shield became too much if she did it constantly, especially for her. So Sol was forced to wait on each planet for at least a week. Thankfully, that was just the right amount of time before she began to go slightly stir crazy.

The entire time Sol had traveled she had thought about what the Doctor, one of her best friends, one of her only friends, had asked her before she left him on his TARDIS with his companion. He had asked if she wanted to travel with him.

And she had said no.

Sol had known at the time that, one day, she would undeniably want to travel through the universe with her friend. But she had forced herself to wait. She had to consider every option, every outcome of making that decisive choice. It had been obvious that the Doctor had been proud of her taking precautions, despite the fact it meant they would be separated once again.

But now she had changed her mind.

It had been precisely one century since she had walked out the doors of his TARDIS. And Sol was determined to walk back through them again.

Sol's mental dialogue, however, was interrupted by a sudden spark as her mind recognized the presence of another Time Lord. She froze and scanned the streets quickly. No. It couldn't be him. That would be too strange of a-but then she spotted him, bouncing impatiently as he waited for a human to finish using one of their cash machines.

As she watched, the Doctor stepped forward and stood a little too close to the cash machine to be extracting cash legally, making Sol smile and cross her arms. A loud shout of "taxi!" drew her attention to a ginger woman in a wedding dress who had a taxi pulling up next to her. Sol frowned. She didn't see Rose, the companion she remembered, anywhere nearby.

The ginger woman shouted "thanks for nothing, spaceman! I'll see you in Court!" before climbing into the taxi. The Doctor was watching her carefully before his gaze flickered to the driver, making Sol's do the same. It was one of the Santa mask wearing people. She started to run towards the Doctor. Something was wrong.

"Donna!" The Doctor gave a final shout as the taxi cab skid away. He spun around, Sol running up behind him, to see a trio of Santa's pointing their multiple instruments at him like guns.

"Doctor!" Sol pulled his arm, making him turn in shock before he soniced the cash machine, sending a cloud of bank notes flying. With another tug, Sol got the Time Lord running as humans rushed the flying bank notes, serving as a suitable wall between the Santa's and the Time Lords.

As they ran, the Doctor switched so that he led, given he was the one who knew the way back to the TARDIS. "Glad to see you again, Sol," he called over his shoulder.

"And you." Sol grinned. Oh, she had missed this. She had always managed to keep out of trouble on her travels but the Doctor couldn't seem to avoid it. "Care to fill me in?"

"A woman in a wedding dress named Donna appeared on my TARDIS and started shouting at me. Now she's being chased by aliens in Santa masks who want to kill me!" He skid to a stop in front of the TARDIS, still disguised as a blue Police Box. He pulled his key from his pocket, shoved it in and threw the door open. "Now help me get her back!"

They rushed to the TARDIS console, working in unison to track the ginger woman in a wedding dress. Sol could already feel her lungs burning from just their short run but she forced herself to ignore it. She had more important things to focus on now.

When the Doctor hit a unit with a hammer, Sol swatted his hand. "Don't hit her! Even I know that!"

The rotor started to rise and fall as the TARDIS began to fly. "You're not allowed to talk. You never passed your test!"

"Well," Sol spun the monitor around to the Doctor, "neither did you!"

The Doctor laughed before setting the tracker to follow Donna and the taxi. The TARDIS sparked violently and the Doctor, again, hit the console with a hammer. "Behave!"

"You behave!" Sol scolded as she hung on for dear life while the TARDIS began to tilt dangerously. It jolted as it hit the road, having fallen out of the air a bit behind Donna's taxi. "You go get Donna!" The Doctor nodded, rushing to the doors as Sol attempted to keep the TARDIS steady.

He yanked the doors open, Sol managing to keep the TARDIS alongside the taxi. "Open the door!"

Donna stared back at him with her hands pressed against the window. "Do what?"

"Open the door!"

"I can't, it's locked!" Donna demonstrated by attempting, and failing, to open the door. The Doctor soniced the window, allowing Donna to force it open. "Santa's a robot."

"Donna, open the door!"

"What for?"

"You've got to jump!"

"I'm not blinking flip jumping. I'm supposed to be getting married!" The taxi began to accelerate, speeding away from the TARDIS. Sol, her entire body shaking, nearly growled as she began to chase it, not even cringing as the TARDIS bounced off the roof of a car. She managed to get the TARDIS back alongside the taxi, though her hands were burned from sparks in the process. The Doctor nearly fell out but he managed to keep his balance somehow.

The Doctor tried to sonic the robot driver, making it spark and its grip tighten. "Listen to me. You've got to jump."

"I'm not jumping on a motorway."

"Whatever that thing is, it needs you. And whatever it needs you for, it's not good! Now, come on!"

"I'm in my wedding dress!"

"Yes; you look lovely! Come on!"

Donna opened the door, breathing heavily and gasping as she looked down at the road speeding below her. The Doctor held out his hands to her so that he would be able to catch her. "I can't do it," Donna shook her head, terrified.

"Trust me."

"Is that what you said to her? Your friend? The one you lost? Did she trust you?"

"Yes, she did. And she is not dead. She is so alive. Now, jump!" And Donna jumped, screaming, into the Doctor's arms and sending them falling backwards into the TARDIS. With a flick of a switch, Sol had the doors closed and they were soaring away into the air, albeit with a few bumps.

~|N|~

With the Doctor's help, they managed to make the TARDIS last long enough to get to a roof top before it nearly burst into flames. Sol practically pushed Donna out of the TARDIS as the Doctor began to spray it with a fire extinguisher. Smoke bellowed from the doors as Sol brushed something off Donna's arm, the woman checking her watch.

"I'm Sol, by the way." She crossed her arms, rubbing her hands up and down her forearms as though she were attempting to keep warm.

Donna gave her a small, sad smile. Both the Doctor and Sol were surprised the ginger hadn't commented on Sol's random appearance, but she, undeniably, had better things to focus on.

Donna, as the Doctor closed the doors and Sol rushed to look him over, walked closer to the edge of the roof.

"The funny thing is," the Doctor said, coming up beside Donna with Sol moving to her other side, "for a spaceship, she doesn't really do that much flying. We'd better give her a couple of hours. You all right?"

Donna shrugged. "Doesn't matter."

"Did we miss it?"

Donna sighed, "yeah."

"Well, you can book another date," Sol tried to cheer Donna up, wrapping her arms around herself.

"Course we can."

"You've still got the honeymoon…"

"It's just a holiday now."

"Yeah," the Doctor agreed, surveying the city, "yeah. Sorry." Sol squeezed Donna's shoulder, a gesture that made the woman give her a sad smile.

"It's not your fault."

"Oh?" The Doctor laughed lightly. "That's a change."

"Wish you had a time machine; then we could go back and get it right."

"Yeah, yeah."

"But even if he did, he wouldn't be able to go back on someone's personal timeline," Sol glanced at the Doctor over Donna's head, seeing such sadness in his eyes he tried to ignore.

"Apparently." The Doctor swallowed hard.

Donna moved to sit on the edge of the roof, with Sol moving to give the Doctor a small hug before they moved forward together, the Doctor taking off his jacket to wrap around Donna's shoulders as they sat on either side of her.

Donna looked down at the jacket. "God, you're skinny. This wouldn't fit a rat." Sol laughed in agreement, swinging her legs playfully as she looked out upon the city.

"Oh," the Doctor reached for one of his pocket, "and you'd better put this on." He held out a gold ring which held stark similarities to a wedding ring.

"Oh," Donna nodded at the ring, "do you have to rub it in?"

"Those creatures can trace you. This is a bio-damper. Should keep you hidden." The Doctor took her hand and slid the ring on. "With this ring, I thee bio-damp," he popped the 'p'.

"For better or for worse." Donna sighed. "So, come on then. Robot Santas, what are they for?" She pulled the coat a bit tighter around herself.

"Ah, your basic robo scavenger. The Father Christmas stuff is just a disguise. They're trying to blend in. I met them last Christmas."

Sol lifted her eyebrows and she turned to him. "Really?"

"Why, what happened then?"

The Doctor furrowed his brow, turning to Donna. He understood Sol; he had no idea where she had been then. But Donna was human. She should have been on Earth, should have seen everything that happened. "Great big spaceship hovering over London? You didn't notice?"

Donna shrugged. "I had a bit of a hangover."

The Doctor frowned before shrugging, directing his gaze towards a section of flats in the distance, nodding to them. "I spent Christmas Day just over there, the Powell Estate, with this…" he paused "family. My friend, she had this family. Well, they were." He paused again, lost in thought. "Still…gone now."

Donna had, for one moment when she had first met Sol, thought that the blonde woman was the friend the Doctor was talking about, given how she had just randomly reappeared. But now she knew that wasn't true. "Your friend. Who was she?"

The Doctor didn't respond. "Question is, what do camouflaged robot mercenaries want with you? And how did you get inside the TARDIS? I don't know…" he looked over at Donna as Sol rolled her eyes at him. "What's your job?"

He reached into the pocket of his jacket, extracting his sonic as Donna answered. "I'm a secretary."

As he began to scan her, he frowned. "It's weird. I mean, you're not special, you're not powerful, you're not connected, you're not clever, you're not important." Sol shot the Doctor a disapproving glance he didn't seem to notice, her mouth opening as she prepared to scold him.

"This friend of yours. Just before she left, did she punch you in the face?" Donna swat the sonic. "Stop bleeping me!" Now Sol had to smile. Donna had taken the words right out of her mouth.

She leaned forward slightly, bringing both other people's attention to her. "What kind of secretary?"

"I'm at HC Clements. It's where I met Lance. I was temping." Donna smiled in memory. "I mean, it was all a bit posh really. I'd spent the last two years at a double glazing firm. Well, I thought I'm never going to fit in here. And then he made me a coffee. I mean, that just doesn't happen. Nobody gets the secretaries a coffee. And Lance, he's the head of HR! He don't need to bother with me. But he was nice, he was funny. And it turns out he thought everyone else was really snotty too. So that's how it started, me and him. One cup of coffee. That was it."

Sol snapped Donna out of her thoughts, despite enjoying hearing the woman talk about a memory which clearly brought her much joy. "When was this?"

Donna smiled. "Six months ago."

"Bit quick to get married."

"Well, he insisted. And he nagged…and he nagged me…and he just wore me down. And then finally, I just gave in."

Now it was the Doctor's turn to ask a question, Sol suddenly remembering a time when the Doctor had done nearly the same thing to get her to tell him what she had gotten him for his birthday (she, however, hadn't given in to his pleas). "What does HC Clements do?"

"Oh, security systems. You know…entry codes, ID cards, that sort of thing. If you ask me, it's a posh name for locksmiths."

"Keys," the Doctor slowly nodded.

"Anyway, enough of my CV. Come on, it's time to face the consequences. Oh, this is going to be so shaming. You can do the explaining, Martian boy."

Sol rested her hand on Donna's shoulder. "We're not from Mars."

Donna smiled, not fully believing them. She had guessed Sol was another alien, just like the man. "Oh, I had this great big reception all planned. Everyone's going to be heartbroken."

~|N|~

The trio, fully expecting to be entering a quiet, solemn affair, found themselves walking into a room where people were dancing under a disco ball. If they hadn't known this was supposed to be Donna's reception, they would have thought nothing of it.

Donna stopped short and every person, one by one, noticed she had arrived. They all froze and the music shut off. "You had the reception without me?" Donna demanded in a fairly good impression of Sol when she was ordering people about.

A man they assumed was Lance, given the state of his suit, took a small step forward. "Donna, what happened to you?"

"You had the reception without me?"

The Doctor leaned forward and introduced himself cheerfully. "Hello. I'm the Doctor."

"I'm Sol." She gave a small wave.

Donna rounded on the two of them. "They had the reception without me."

"Yes," the Doctor nodded, "we gathered."

"Well," a woman in a blue dress sneered, "it was all paid for. Why not?"

"Thank you, Nerys," Donna hissed in reply.

A woman, whose resemblance to Donna made it clear she was her mother, walked forward. "Well, what were we supposed to do? I got your silly little message in the end. 'I'm on Earth?' Very funny." The entire room began to crowd around Donna. "What the hell happened? How did you do it? I mean, what's the trick, because I'd love to know."

The entire room started talking at once, with some asking concerned questions but the majority simply angry. Donna glanced back at the Time Lords for help, but they could do nothing. But everyone in the room shut up as Donna burst into tears, Lance moving forward to hug her. They all started applauding, except the woman apparently named Nerys. Donna, who had been crying into Lance's shoulder, glanced at the Doctor and Sol and winked at them through her then obvious fake tears.

~|N|~

The party continued like it had when they arrived, though now Donna was included and dancing with Lance. The Doctor and Sol leaned against the bar, standing much closer than they had back on New Earth. He watched the festivities with an amused smile as Sol occasionally burst into quiet giggles at some interesting dance moves she spotted, pointing them out to the Doctor. They reminded her of her own; he had always teased her she was a horrible dancer. She had always countered with the fact he was no better.

The Doctor looked to the side at spotted a man flipping closed his phone, hurrying to ask to borrow it. Sol leaned over his shoulder, resting her head on his shoulder as she watched the screen and he snapped on his glasses. He entered H. C. Clements into the search engine before using the sonic to amplify the signal, Sol casting a few careful looks around them. After a few seconds of a flashing screen, the phone stopped to display the message 'sole proprietor: Torchwood'.

Sol made a note to ask him about that later, for she could tell the message had filled the Time Lord with dread. He moved to hand back the phone to the man before he fell heavily against the bar and they watched the dancers once again. This time Sol took his hand and squeezed. Even without the ability to read his mind she knew he needed something familiar to comfort him.

She, having scanned the edges of the room, pointed towards a man with long hair standing by a video camera. They pushed off the bar and made their way towards him. The Doctor asked a few original questions before the man popped out the view screen, letting the two Time Lords lean in to watch. "Oh, I taped the whole thing. They've all had a look. They said 'sell it to You've Been Framed'. I said, 'more like the News'. Here we are." He pressed a button and the video began to play.

The camera was zoomed in on Donna's face as she was consumed by golden particles with a scream. "Can't be." The Doctor shook his head. "Play it again?"

The camera man complied. "Clever, mind. Good trick, I'll give her that. I was clapping."

Sol leaned closer, the Doctor and her heads blocking the camera man's view completely as they studied the screen intently. "But that looks like Huon Particles." She looked up at the Doctor, their eyes meeting.

"What's that then?"

"That's impossible." The Doctor pulled off his glasses. "That's…ancient."

"Huon energy doesn't exist anymore," Sol whispered, "not for billions of years."

"So old that…" the Doctor froze and stared at the ring on Donna's finger "it can't be hidden by a bio-damper!" And then he began to run, Sol thanking the camera man as quick as she could before following. They made their way to a window to see two robot Santas approaching, their instruments cocked and ready. Sol yanked the Doctor's hand and they ran back to where Donna danced.

"Donna!" Sol shouted, getting the ginger woman's attention.

"Donna," the Doctor interrupted her dance, "they've found you."

"But you said I was safe."

"The bio-damper doesn't work." The Doctor scanned the room frantically.

"We've got to get everyone out."

Donna looked around at everyone that surrounded them. "My God," she whispered, "it's all my family."

"Out the back door!" The trio rushed out the door, only to find two more robots waiting for them there. "Maybe not." They closed the doors and Sol led the way to a pair of French windows, but the robots were there as well.

"We're trapped."

One of the robots held a remote instead of an instrument. They lifted it, making the Doctor turn and look back into the room. "Christmas trees," he breathed as his eyes landed on one which towered above the humans below.

"What about them?" Sol frowned.

"They kill." The Doctor rushed to one of the large trees, were a small group of children played with the branches. "Get away from the tree!"

"Don't touch the trees!" Donna tried to shoo some of the children away.

"Get away from the Christmas trees!" Sol held out a hand to stop them as she bounced to a stop in front of one. She didn't know how the tree could be dangerous, but she trusted the Doctor when he told her it was. "Everyone get away from them!" Her voice went deeper, as though she were channeling someone else, while her eyes hardened and narrowed.

"Out! Lance, tell them!"

"Everyone stay away from the trees! Stay away from the trees!"

Donna's mother scoffed. "Oh, for God's sakes, they're both idiots. Why? What harm's a Christmas tree gonna…" she froze, a pleasant smile coming onto her face. "Oh." The Time Lords, one knowing the reason for fear and one quickly learning, turned in unison.

The plastic baubles had begun floating through the air on their own accord, bobbing like apples in water. They moved until they were above everyone's heads and flickering in the still on disco ball light.

Suddenly they starting dive bombing the room, sparking explosions where ever they hit something, and sometimes just randomly. People started screaming and running for cover as things around them began to catch fire. Donna managed to reach an upturned table and she pulled Lance down to join her.

The Doctor, on the other hand, was shielding Sol as they made their way across the edges of the room. She was whimpering and clutching her ears at the sudden influx of sound, just like she had when everyone had begun shouting at Donna. But the Doctor kept them moving until they slipped and fell behind a table, Sol immediately curling into a ball for a moment before forcing herself, with a fierce look in her eyes, to look over the top of the table with the Doctor. He rested one hand on her back.

A line of Santa mask wearing robots stared back at them. "Oi!" The Doctor stood, though Sol remained where she was. "Santa! Word of advice. If you're attacking a man with a sonic screwdriver," he held it up, Sol already scurrying away to cover her ears again as the Doctor reached for the microphone, "don't let him near the sound system." He pressed the sonic into the sound system, making an earsplitting sound rupture from the speakers. The humans rushed to cover their ears as the robots crumbled into pieces after shaking violently.

When the Doctor finally pulled the sonic away, he rushed to help Sol up. Despite their species natural ability to withstand higher frequencies of sound, she had always seemed to be affected just as much as the humans when he tried that. As the room went silent, the humans relieved, the Doctor kissed her forehead before rushing to check the robots.

The rest of the humans began to stand again. "It's all right, Stan." It was Donna's father speaking. "You'll be all right. It's all over."

"Michael?" Donna rushed to check on two children. "Connie? Oh, Senita, do something useful."

"What is it?" Lance asked Donna. He pointed to where the Doctor sat, examining pieces of the robots. "What were they?"

"Just stop wittering. Just help them."

"Look at that." The Doctor looked over his shoulder at Sol, who was supporting herself using the sound system. "Remote control for the decorations, but there's a second remote control for the robots. They're not scavengers anymore. I think someone's taken possession."

"Never mind all that. You're a doctor. People have been hurt."

"Nah, they wanted you alive. Look." He tossed a bauble to Donna. "They're not active now."

"All the same, you could help." As Donna spoke, Sol slowly walked over to the Doctor, using his shoulder as a support, while he listened to a frantic beeping coming from the head. She looked better now, if still a bit shocked, but her glow was back.

"Got to think of the bigger picture. There's still a signal!" The Doctor stood rapidly, grabbing Sol's hand and pulling her along. He wasn't leaving her behind.

By the time they had stopped outside the hotel where the reception had been taking place, Donna had caught up with them. The Doctor was in the middle of sonicing the head while Sol held it for him, her looking much better despite the short run.

"There's someone behind this, directing the roboforms," he mumbled.

"But why is it me? What have I done?"

Sol reached out a hand to try and comfort her. "When we find the controller, we'll find that out. Don't worry."

"Ooo!" the Doctor exclaimed as he pointed and lifted his sonic upwards. "It's up there." He pointed it at the sky. "Something in the sky." A few seconds later, after Lance had arrived, the Doctor dropped the sonic and hit it, making Sol hit his hand. "I've lost the signal. Donna," he turned to the woman, "we've got to get to your office. HC Clements. I think that's where it all started." He looked to the side where Lance was standing "Lance! Is it Lance?"

"It is Lance," Sol reassured him.

"Lance, can you give us a lift?"

~|N|~

Quicker than some might think possible, the Doctor, Sol, Donna and Lance reached Donna's desk. The Doctor ran directly to her computer. "To you lot this might just be a locksmiths, but HC Clements was brought up twenty three years ago by the Torchwood Institute."

"Who are they?" Sol had the same question.

The Doctor looked between Sol and Donna. "They were behind the battle of Canary Wharf…Cyberman invasion…skies over London full of Daleks?"

Sol shrugged. "42nd century." She'd heard of the events the few times she'd stopped in on Earth, and made a point to avoid when the invasions had been occurring.

He looked to Donna. "Oh, I was in Spain."

"They had Cybermen in Spain."

"Scuba diving."

"That big picture, Donna. You keep on missing it." The Doctor slid to another computer, with Sol moving to read over his shoulder. "Torchwood was destroyed, but HC Clements stayed in business. I think someone else came in and took over" he hit the computer, Sol hitting his shoulder for that "the operation."

"But what do they want with me?"

Sol used a hand to keep the Doctor down as she explained. "Somehow you've been dosed with a quantity of Huon energy. And that's a problem, because Huon energy hasn't existed since the Dark Times. The only place you'd find a Huon particle now is a remnant in the heart of the TARDIS."

"See?" The Doctor stood. "That's what happened. Say," he grabbed a coffee mug, "that's the TARDIS. And" he grabbed a pencil "that's you. The particles inside you activated." He began to shake the pencil and mug. "The two sets of particles magnetised and whap." He threw the pencil inside the mug. "You were pulled inside the TARDIS."

"I'm a pencil inside a mug?"

"Yes, you are. 4H. Sums you up." Sol swat his hand, making him drop the mug and turn to Lance. "Lance? What was HC Clements working on? Anything top secret? Special operations? Do not enter?" The Doctor sat in another chair, using his sonic again on a computer, making it display the information he had been searching for.

"I don't know; I'm in charge of personnel. I wasn't project manager. Why am I even explaining myself? What the hell are we talking about?"

The computer was showing the plan of the building. "They make keys, that's the point. And look at this. We're on the third floor."

Sol led the way to the lift, having already spotted it when they entered. "Underneath reception, there's a basement, yes?" The doors opened with a ding, allowing the Time Lords to step inside and examine the array of buttons.

"Then how come when you look on the lift, there's a button marked lower basement?" Sol gestured to it. "There's an entire floor which doesn't exist on the official plans."

"So what's down there, then?"

"Are you telling me this building's got a secret floor?"

"No," the Doctor jerked his head towards the button, "we're showing you this building's got a secret floor."

Donna nodded to the button. "It needs a key."

Sol grinned. "We don't."

The Doctor held out his sonic and used it on the button marked 'LB' until there was a clicking sound. "Right then. Thanks, you two. We can handle this." He turned to look at the two humans as Sol gave them a small wave. Something made her undeniably happy about being so smoothly included into the Doctor's plans and adventure. "See you later."

"No chance, Martian." Donna entered the lift. "You're the man who keeps saving my life. I ain't letting you out of my sight."

"Going down."

"Lance?"

"Maybe I should go to the police."

"Inside," Donna ordered as she rolled her eyes, making Sol laugh. By the stars, she liked this woman. Lance, with a sigh, entered the lift.

After a moment of silence the Doctor asked "To honour and obey?"

"Tell me about it, mate."

"Oi," Donna snapped, as Sol swat the Doctor's arm with a small smile.

The lift doors opened with another ding, revealing a damp hallway lit with an eerie green light. Donna led the way out. "Where are we? Well, what goes on down here?"

"Let's find out." The Doctor and Sol each looked down a separate end of the hall.

"Do you think Mr. Clements knows about this place?"

"The mysterious HC Clements?"

"I think he's part of it," Sol scoffed.

"Oh, look…Transport!" Sol turned at the Doctor's words and sighed. Yes. That most certainly was transport.

~|N|~

Each member of the quartet stood on their own electrical scooter, moving slowly down the hallway in a line. Donna, after a few seconds of seriously staring ahead, burst into laughter. The Doctor joined in with hearty laughs as Sol giggled, one hand gripping the scooter and the other covering her mouth. Lance was the only one who didn't seem at all amused.

They finally rolled to a stop outside a door that said 'Authorized Personal'. Naturally, it was enough to spark their curiosity and the Doctor turned the wheel to reveal a high ladder. The Doctor looked up at it before turning to the rest of them. "Wait here. Just need to get my bearings. Don't," he pointed at the humans sternly, "do anything." He turned to Sol next. "You too. Watch them." For the first time, Sol didn't argue. She just crossed her arms and silently thanked her friend for helping her, whether he knew it or not.

"You'd better come back," Donna called as the Doctor started to climb. Sol walked into the room which held the ladder, leaned against the back wall, and watched as the Doctor climbed.

"I couldn't get rid of you if I tried." The Doctor smiled down at Donna, who looked pleased about that.

"Donna, have you thought about this?" Lance asked the woman quietly. He glanced at Sol, but she didn't appear to be paying the least bit attention to the two humans. "Properly? I mean, this is serious! What the hell are we going to do?"

Donna turned to him. "Oh, I thought July." She smiled brightly at him before returning to watch as the Doctor reached the top of the shaft. The Time Lord opened it, letting light enter the room, before popping up and scanning their surroundings. He climbed down quickly.

"Thames flood barrier," he brushed off his hands, "right on top of us. Torchwood snuck in and built this place underneath."

"What, there's like a secret base hidden underneath a major London landmark?"

"Oh, I know." The Doctor shook his head. "Unheard of." He took Sol's hand as they kept walking down the hall, moving until they reached a green door which, when opened, revealed a laboratory full of bubbling tubes and assorted chemistry equipment.

"Oo, look at this." The Doctor looked around at all. "Stunning!"

"What does it do?"

"Particle extrusion," Sol offered.

"Hold on." The Doctor ran to a large tube and tapped it. "Brilliant. They've been manufacturing Huon particles. Course our," he gestured to Sol, "people got rid of Huons. They unraveled the atomic structure." He darted to look at another tube.

"Your people? Who are they? What company do you represent?

"Oh, we're freelancers. But this lot," he spun back around to face the humans, "are rebuilding them."

"They must have been using the river," Sol guessed, looking at the Doctor for conformation.

He nodded. "Extruding them through a flat hydrogen base so they've got the end result," he pulled a small, stout syringe shaped container from a slot in the base of one of the tubes, "Huon particles in liquid form."

"And that's what's inside me?" In response, the Doctor turned a knob on the top of the container and made the liquid glow gold, making Donna begin to do the same. She looked down at herself in shock. "Oh, my God!"

"Genius." The Doctor shook his head, amazed.

"The particles are inert, they need something living to catalyze inside and that's you." Sol pointed to Donna.

"Saturate the body and then…" he paused and jumped backwards. "Ha! The wedding!" He spun in excitement. "Yes, you're getting married, that's it! Best day of your life, walking down the aisle. Oh, your body's a battleground! There's a chemical war inside! Adrenaline, acetylcholine. Wham! go the endorphins. Oh, you're cooking! Yeah, you're like a walking oven. A pressure cooker, a microwave, all churning away. The particles reach boiling point. SHAZAM!" Donna interrupted him with a slap, making Sol cheer. She had been making her way over to them in order to do just that. The Doctor, shocked, looked between the Time Lady and human. "What did I do this time?"

Sol rested a hand on his shoulder as she stopped next to him. "You just said there was a chemical war inside her, called her a walking oven, a pressure cooker, and a microwave." She shook her head. "And you sounded perfectly happy the entire time. I was about to slap you, but she," Sol smiled at Donna, "took care of it."

"Are you enjoying this?" Donna interrupted with a glare. The Doctor looked down, clearly guilty. "Right, just tell me. These particles, are they dangerous? Am I safe?"

"Yes." Sol had to admit, he sounded extremely unconvincing.

"Doctor…if your lot got rid of Huon particles…why did they do that?"

Sol took Donna's hand and squeezed. "Because they were deadly," she whispered.

"Oh…my God."

"I'll sort it out, Donna. Whatever's been done to you, I'll reverse it," the Doctor promised. "I am not about to lose someone else."

Suddenly, the Doctor was interrupted by a series of loud crashes, bangs and hisses surrounding them. "Oh, she is long since lost," a voice hissed. The wall beside them, marked Lab 003, slid upwards to reveal a tiered hole that descended down into the earth. "I have waited so long, hibernating at the edge of the universe…" Lance rushed in horror out the door "…until the secret heart was uncovered and called out to waken!"

The walls of the drilling site were lined with black robe wearing aliens, who all turned their weapons on the trio.

"Someone's been digging." The Doctor walked forward and peered down the hole. "Oh, very Torchwood. Drilled by laser. How far down does it go?"

"Down and down, all the way to the centre of the Earth!"

"Really?" The Doctor frowned.

"Seriously?" Sol walked next to him.

"What for?"

Donna rushed forward. "Dinosaurs," she offered.

"What?"

"Dinosaurs?"

"What are you on about, dinosaurs?"

"That film, Under the Earth, with dinosaurs. Trying to help."

"That's not helping."

"Such a sweet couple." The Doctor frowned before walking away from Donna, moving, without noticing, closer to Sol.

"Only a madman talks to thin air," he called, "and trust me, you don't want to make me mad. Where are you?"

"High in the sky," the voice hissed. "Floating so high on Christmas night."

"I didn't come all this way to talk on the intercom. Come on!" he shouted.

"Let us look at you!" Sol ordered.

"Who are you with such command?"

"I'm Sol." She crossed her arms. The name itself wasn't that recognizable, but she said it proudly, like it should have been recognized instantly.

"And I'm the Doctor."

"Prepare your best medicines, doctor man, for you will be sick at heart." With the shout, the source of the voice transported in. It was a red spider's torso with a red skinned woman's body attached. She had a large number of eyes and was snarling and hissing at them.

"Racnoss?" the Doctor breathed. "But that's impossible. You're one of the Racnoss?"

"Empress of the Racnoss," she replied.

Sol frowned. "If you're the Empress, where's the rest of the Racnoss?"

"Or," for the first time, the Doctor was quieter than Sol when speaking, "are you the only one?"

"Such sharp minds," was the Empress's only response.

"That's it," the Doctor nodded, "the last of your kind." He leaned closer to Donna in order to explain. "The Racnoss come from the Dark Times, billions of years ago. Billions. They were carnivores, omnivores. They devoured whole planets."

"Racnoss are born starving. Is that our fault?"

"They eat people?" Donna gulped.

"HC Clements," Sol asked randomly, "did he wear those black and white shoes?"

"He did." Donna nodded. "We used to laugh. We used to call him the fat cat in spats." Sol pointed towards a pair of feet, the only part of a body visible, sticking out of the web that covered the ceiling. They were wearing a pair of black and white shoes. "Oh my God!"

"Mmm. My Christmas dinner," the Empress laughed.

"You shouldn't even exist," Sol frowned. "Way back in history, the fledgling Empires went to war against the Racnoss. They were wiped out."

Donna's attention was caught by something on the balcony above the Empress; Lance, making a shush gesture to her.

"Except for me."

"But that's what I've got inside me, that Huon energy thing." The Empress began to look away in boredom at Donna beginning to speak. "Oi! Look at me, lady, I'm talking. Where do I fit in? How comes I get all stacked up with these Huon particles?" Lance was slowly descending the stairs, approaching the Empress, an axe in hand. "Look at me, you! Look me in the eye and tell me."

"The bride is so feisty," the Empress sneered.

"Yes, I am! And I don't know what you are, you big thing," Sol and the Doctor exchanged a glance at Donna's phrasing, "but a spider's just a spider and an axe is an axe! Now, do it!"

Lance prepared to swing the axe as the Empress spun around to hiss threateningly at him.

But then he stopped, looked towards the trio, and started to laugh. The Empress joined in, though her laughter was much more similar to hisses.

"That was a good one." He pointed towards the Empress. "Your face."

"Lance is funny," the Empress sneered at the trio before she laughed as well.

"What?" Donna frowned."

"I'm sorry," the Doctor told her and Sol squeezed the woman's shoulder, both Time Lords already realizing what had happened.

"Sorry for what? Lance, don't be so stupid! Get her!"

"God, she's thick. Months I've had to put up with her. Months. A woman who can't even point to Germany on a map," Lance snapped fiercely. Sol shivered, suddenly cold, and wrapped her arms tightly around herself. She wished she could have chosen an outfit with some kind of thicker outerwear.

Donna froze and swallowed, looking between the Time Lords in shock. "I don't understand."

"How did you meet him?" The Doctor asked with his voice quiet and calm.

"In the office."

"He made you coffee," Sol whispered.

"What?" Donna frowned.

"Every day, I made you," Lance pointed to Donna, "coffee."

Sol stepped closer to Donna. "You had to be dosed with liquid particles over a period of six months."

"He was poisoning me."

They all looked back towards Lance and the Empress. "It was all there in the job title. The Head of Human Resources."

"This time, it's personnel." Lance smirked as he and the Empress laughed again.

Donna shook her head, confused. "But, we were getting married."

"Well, I couldn't risk you running off. I had to say yes. And then I was stuck with a woman who thinks the height of excitement is a new flavour Pringle," he snapped. "Oh, I had to sit there and listen to all that yap yap yap. Oh, Brad and Angelina. Is Posh pregnant? X Factor, Atkins Diet, Feng Shui, split ends, text me, text me, text me. Dear God, the never ending fountain of fat, stupid trivia." Sol closed her eyes, recognizing a stark similarity of the man's words to ones in her memory. "I deserve a medal," Lance finished.

"Oh, is that what she's offered you? The Empress of the Racnoss? What are you, her consort?" The Doctor sounded on the brink of anger. Sol forced herself to walk forward next to him, hardening her gaze.

"It's better than a night with her." Lance pointed to Donna.

"But I love you," Donna whispered.

"That's what made it easy," Lance replied with a sneer. "It's like you said, Doctor. The big picture. What's the point of it all if the human race is nothing?" He pointed towards the Empress. "That's what the Empress can give me. The chance to go out there. To see it. The size of it all. I think you understand that, don't you, Doctor?"

The Empress hissed. "Who is this little physician? And this sun child?"

"She said," Lance nodded towards Donna, "Martian."

"Oh, we're sort of…homeless." The Doctor waved off the question as he walked around behind Donna.

Sol walked forward a bit more, tilting her head. "But I do have a question for you; what's down there?" She pointed down the hole. "The Racnoss are extinct. What's going to help you four thousand miles down from here? That's just the molten core of the Earth, is it not?"

"I think she wants us to talk," Lance frowned as though he were speaking to a child. Sol shivered, but no one noticed.

"I think so, too."

"Well, tough!" Lance spit out the last word. "All we need is Donna."

"Kill those chattering little doctor-man and sun-woman."

"Don't you hurt them!" Donna rushed to block both of them, pulling Sol backwards from her position in front of the human.

"No, no, Donna. It's all right," the Doctor tried to calm Donna down.

"No, I won't let them," Donna shouted, staring fearfully at the Empress.

"At arms!" the Empress cackled. The robots bordering the room pointed all their guns at the trio.

"Ah, now," the Doctor held up his hands. "Except…"

"Take aim!" The Empress ignored him.

"Well, I just want to point out the obvious…"

"They won't hit the bride. They're such very good shots."

"Just…just…just…just…just hold on. Hold on just a tick. Just a tiny little…just a little tick. If you think about it, the particles activated in Donna and drew her inside my spaceship. So reverse it," the Doctor pulled the capsule filled with Huon particles from his pocket and turned a knob, making Donna glow, "and the spaceship comes to her."

"Fire!"

The robots began firing a moment too late as the TARDIS built itself like smoke around the trio, protecting them as they landed in the console room.

**A/N: Sol has returned to the Doctor! Her reactions to a few things were a bit strange; I wonder why that could be? How will her presence affect the rest of the episodes?**

**I recognize that this story was reported to LizzeXX as a possible plagiarism of her stories. I'm impressed, and grateful, to see that her fans (which include me) are so quick to act when they suspect something. The only thing I request in the future, if any of you were to suspect anything, is if you would contact me immediately. I will immediately delete the chapter and completely rewrite it. The only reason I ask this is that I do have a longer story, Songs of TARDISes, which is almost completely original. I'd never want this story to interfere with that one.**

**Notes on reviews:**

_NicoleR85: I'm glad you enjoyed it and I hope you enjoy the update :)_

_Guest: I do recognize that the formatting of this story is similar to LizzeXX (who I am a fan of). She was my inspiration to start writing again, and that is a possible reason why my stories are formatted similar. I can tell you that the story will be starkly different from Lizze's stories, but I appreciate your worry :)_

_Kirsty: Thank you for that warning :) Sol will be saying different things, as she has a different reaction to the Doctor in situations. The reason he doesn't ask her what's wrong or do any scans is because, as he says, she's always been like that. It's not anything strange to him, as she's always been a weaker Time Lady then the rest. He is worried about her, but he knows she's strong enough to recover. This story, as was me returning to writing, was inspired by LizzeXX._

_In response to your statements of the comparisons: the only similarity I can see between Sol and Angel is that they were both blonde when appearing in that first episode; she does have the power of the Professor, but she has a very different reasoning behind her words/how she acts and, as is proved here, she doesn't act like the Professor; I don't really see how she acts like Evy, except perhaps how she keeps the Doctor in check, and she will have her own, extremely personal reasoning for choosing Sol. I honestly hadn't even realized that there could be a connection between Sol and Evy's Solar family until that comment. That tends to happen with all characters, I've noticed, that you find traits of other characters in them. I greatly appreciate your concern on LizzeXX's behalf :)_

_LilAngel927: Thank you, my friend :)_

_LilyMayRose: I hope you enjoyed this chapter :) I'm glad you're enjoying the story :)_


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